YouTube Pressured To Drop Chinese Propaganda

>>YouTube and Google are under intense scrutiny
over Chinese state media sponsored ads that are spreading misinformation about the protestors
in Hong Kong. So, these ads are linked to CCTV China Central
Television which is funded by the Chinese government. Hong Kong supporters are calling on YouTube
to stop CCTV from running any ads on YouTube. Both Twitter and Facebook had been called
out earlier and they made decisions to take these ads down. So let me give you the details. This is from Twitter safety, from Twitter
and its safety official statement. These accounts were deliberately and specifically
attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy
and political positions of the protest movement on the ground. Based on our intensive investigations we have
reliable evidence to support that this a coordinated state backed operation. And then you have the head of cyber security
from Facebook. This individual also release the statement. Today we removed 7 pages, 3 groups and 5 Facebook
accounts involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior as part of a small network that originated
in China and focused on Hong Kong. Although the people behind this activity attempted
to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with
the Chinese government. And I just wanna remind you all that Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter all of these are banned in mainland China. I know, I think this is actually a hard question
and I don’t, not sure what you guys think, but because CCTV is state TV it’s true but
so is RT and you might think and okay, that’s for the Russians. But so is Al Jazeera, so is the BBC Right
Exactly, right. And look, a lot of our stations, they might
disagree internally, MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN. But do they have a purely American perspective? Definitely. Right, but- And are often quite one-sided. So before you guys comment, though, I think
it’s important to show examples. Because it’s different from what you would
see from RT or from Al Jazeera, right And I don’t want anybody mistake what I’m saying,
of course it’s different. And it’s a government that doesn’t have democracy
dictatorial in that sense. And so do they do a coordinated propaganda,
of course they do. Right and also just completely slander the
protesters and misrepresent who they are and what they do. So in one of these ads, they literally compared
protesters in Hong Kong To ISIS. So take a look at that and I’m gonna do a
rough translation that says, things the Yellow media and the Yellow media represents the
protesters won’t tell you when there is a cooperation between thugs and journalists. What you see is not news, okay? So in one of the other ads they will shoot
to kill with a slingshot. They almost killed a man at the airport. They took a nurses right eye. They are Hong Kong cockroaches. So this is the kind of stuff that your gonna
see. I know but this is identical to what Trump
says. He says Antifa is a terrorist organization. He says it’s fake news yellow news that’s
covering it. So are we gonna ban Trump? I love that. There’s another dimension of this. First of all, I tend to there’s a lack of
clarity here. Okay in the reporting. I’m just gonna be The Verge article here,
verge.com makes it sound not like they’re running ads like this bullet as if China TV,
CCTV is running its own ads that say these terrible things under the name China TV. But this other report says people are using
false identities. I think you have to come down on people using
false identities, but if Chinese State TV is saying things, however horrible, that cue
to the line of what you’d expect Chinese State Day TV to do, then they’ve already disclosed
who they are. And I get, by the way, it’s further complicated
by the fact that the National Endowment for Democracy, which is a government organization,
you can go to their web page, I did. Before the show and they talk about the hundreds
of thousands they’re investing in the democracy movement. That doesn’t mean that the democracy movement
in Hong Kong isn’t valid and right but, you know, when you start asking corporations. To arbitrate speech among individuals speech
on behalf of countries. I get extremely uncomfortable, with that kind
of corporate censorship, that makes me an No I get it, I get it, but I also get frustrated
at the inaction, like the conversation screeches to a halt, where it’s like, well, people are
going to be censored. So we can’t do anything. Like we got to remember we might be skeptical
of things we come across on the internet, but the vast majority of people are not skeptical. They’ll come across something like that. And they’ll think yeah, obviously the Hong
Kong protesters are the same as ISIS. Yeah, And that creates a dangerous situation,
because some people might see that they might be, you know, mentally against the Hong Kong
protesters as a result, but then there are people who get paranoid about things like
that. So listen. And actually carry out violence against protesters
because they think they’re members of ISIS. So there needs to be a better answer. I don’t know what that answer is. Well, look, no one does and to be fair to
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, it is an incredibly difficult question, because I actually think
that the distinction that Richard made is perfect. So if someone’s using a fake identity that
is a good violation of Terms of Service, and a good reason to block them, okay? They’re being disingenuous in who they are
pretending to be, right? But if it’s someone who is honest this is
look, I’m Chinese TV. I’m Russian TV, I’m British TV that I think
you gotta let him say it and so these are hard lines to draw, but it is their job to
draw them. I know they’re gonna get hit no matter what
from all different sides. But in this case, I’m not saying the Chinese
TV or the Chinese propaganda is correct, it’s terribly wrong. And I wanna be absolutely clear, my perspective
is, I’m 100% on the side of the protestors. I’m not in the false equivalencies, I’m not
like, I’m just gonna be neutral. No, we don’t do that here. We have perspective. My perspective is the protesters are right,
okay? Now having said that, if we start if the platform
start blocking state televisions, and other perspectives they don’t agree with that is
a dangerous road to go down. Yeah, that’s and by the way I support the
protesters too, I wasn’t suggesting otherwise. But for example, what do you do if the Chinese,
a TV network says on YouTube, they’re taking money from the Americans, which is true. I mean, I support them, but they are taking. Then is that something you censored them for? I just worry, I mean, I think the way you
combat lies best of all is with truth. We’ve been doing that for, I mean I’ve been
doing it here for 12 years, it ain’t working. It ain’t working, it ain’t working. Well, I would argue it is working, the whole
Millenial and Gen Z generation is progressive. And of course not just the. It’s not the whole Millenial generation. No, it’s 80% so the 20% yes can be quite monstrous,
but we have won the culture wars in a lot of ways and it’s not just because the youngsters
obviously right, although I would say we are you sure had a lot to do in it. This is your our hands. Yes, that’s right. Seriously, the internet culture has won a
lot of ways we’re seeing because of trumpets etc, and now the bad guys are counter-attacking,
but they’re counter-attacking. After we’ve already moved a generation of
Americans and throughout the world in being far more progressive. So I hear you, Anna. It’s oftentimes deeply discouraging to see
this nonsense propaganda. But I also just wanna be fair in saying, yeah,
are the Chinese government doing propaganda that’s full of lies? 100%. But does the American government do the same
by calling protestors terrorists, saying you could run over protestors, doing that on behalf
of oil companies, etc.? Yes, we often do that. We label almost every enemy we have terrorists,
whether they actually did terrorism or not. And then we have allies that are doing terrorism. We go, no, that doesn’t count. So then what are you going to do, ban the
American government? No, look, I get what you’re saying. And I understand like the giant flaws in this
approach, and I’m not trying to defend it. But what I’m trying to say is that what we
have set up right now. And all right, I’ll concede that in terms
of this culture, war. The type of programming from progressive outlets
like ours have done pretty good job. But my point is, bad actors have co-opted
the very movements that we’ve used to kind of build the type of activism that we’re seeing
now, and there, they have absolutely no rules. They have no morals, no ethics, no principles,
so they will put anything and everything out there. It’s a well orchestrated, well organized assault
on truth. And I’m just tired of telling myself all the
warm and fuzzy stories about how we’re truth tellers and it’s working. There are people out there who think all sorts
of nonsense, because of the propaganda from the right, and we need to find a way to combat
that. I don’t know what the answer is, that’s my
point, I don’t know. 100% agree with you. And my only point is this, that we definitely
need to find a way, but maybe to you it sounds like a lefty reaction or something, but I
guarantee you that if we give that power to this government and the corporations that
run our economy, it’s People Like Us. That will be the losers. It’s not gonna be really long. Yeah, and so I’m just saying I agree with
your assessment of the problem. I just think we need to figure out a solution
that is other than relying on the generosity of the people who own Google. I just don’t think first of all, I don’t think
they’re capable of it. We even with the best of intentions and secondly,
I think they’ve got conflicting motives. I think it’s gotta be a democratic process. We have to figure this out together. Yeah and look, there’s a lot of no win situations
out there, and that’s why to some degree I have sympathy for these platforms. But also look, they put out these lies all
over the Internet, etc, but the alternative in the past was to put the gatekeepers and
the gatekeepers of the establishment kept out anyone who wasn’t in favor of the status
quo. So it’s a lose lose in that sense. Last thing is, guys, I know it’s a painful
and hard process, but look, overall again we’ve begun to win, right? So Ben is gone. Alex Jones is gone. Milo is gone. Dave Rubin is deeply humiliated and embarrassed
all over the Internet. Ben Shapiro is now getting pulverized, and
in a more why because they’re being exposed. So it’s a long term game and The Young Turks
have been here for 17 years right? And and we’ve earned the trust of the audience. And so we just got to keep on fighting and
give you guys the facts, and do the best we can under these circumstances, so these platforms. And they’ve got, they can’t bring the gatekeepers
back, you can put the establishment back in charge, that doesn’t help anybody.

RT is also airing Russian propaganda. They just hide it between respectable journalistic programmes. But even if you look at these, you'll see that they are way more critical of the US and its allies than of Russia in most cirumstances. They are very sneaky about their propaganda, you shouldn't just take whatever they publish on face value.

The country of Bahrain have been going through a peaceful uprising against the dictator royal family for 5 years now , people have been killed , tortured and jailed in Bahrain by the government in high numbers , the people of Bahrain are fighting for basic human rights , while people in Hong Kong are protesting an extradition law and a newly built bridge ,, how much coverage did we get on Bahrain from both MSM and internet news like TYT ? not much at all , because the dictator of Bahrain is an American ally .

Jeez Cenk, there's literally hundreds of videos on Youtube of Antifa starting fights , throwing rocks , vandalizing police cars, and beating up innocent people and reporters, including a Latino father and daughter, and most famously, Andy Ngo, a homosexual photo-journalist. Or maybe they're just wearing those black masks because they're shy. Can we please trade Antifa for those pro-Democracy Hong Kong protesters waving American flags?

Alex Jones has not gone. He was ragging on Hass yesterday. He may not be on the major platforms in the same way but people share him on Youtube and probably other places. . I hate the guy but don't think he should be banned. He and his audiance are a gauge of just how crazy Trump and his suppoerters are. You need to be able to see your enemy so you know how to defeat them.

Cenk, call it what what they are.These Hong Kong "protesters" have been damaging properties, assaulting innocent bystanders, and hurting policemen. A rioter is someone who takes part of a violent disturbance. These rioters
also are terrorizing the people of HK. They are terrorist: "a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims."

the Hong Kong protests are funded by the U.S. government, CIA, and the British government. Why are there no coverage of the protests in Brazil and Honduras? Because that doesn't serve the military industrial complex

I would like to point out about what the guess say (I'm sorry I didn't see a name) while I respect that you think corporation shouldn't censure what a government is saying , that they have censured and even closed down channel that speak against the Chinese gouvernement before, it cannot be two mesure for the individual and government that is distopia. They also censure lot of new channels. This to me is further proof that we need a international convention of what hate speech constitute and what company have the right to do if they are in the media business at this point there is just to much a company like google can influence opinion that this can quickly be catastrophic. I also like to point out that compagny like google no longer have the slogan don't be evil , have being working on ai for strike drone, and have being courting the China Communist party despite being ban in that country , all of this is public knowledge so No They cannot be trusted and we need regulation.

Stop saying the BBC is state tv! Its PUBLIC tv, funded by the public for the public. There's no tax money involved, so the British government (luckily) has no control over it. In fact, it's the tories who want to get rid of it, because they wanna turn the British tv landscape into the US model. Which quite frankly is a complete wasteland and has led to the rise of the republican party as we know it today.

the difference is they put you in jail for not going with the sheeple, you would be in jailand that's what they are protesting, saving your ass from jail in china for what a HK citizen sais in Hong Kong

The chief difference between China and the other nations mentioned, is the citizens of the other nations have access to those platforms. Which means their voices can also be heard and provide a counter narrative, no matter how dangerous it may be to do so in their country. If only one side of the story is getting out and it's rank propaganda then that is incredibly dangerous. If China wants to spread their lies on these platforms that's fine, only if they are willing to allow their people equal access to said platforms to spread their message as well.

The model for the ABC in Australia is state funded but specifically not directed by the ruling government. I understand that the UK's BBC is the same. There is a massive push by commercial (Murdock) run media to defund the ABC in Australia. The legislation in place prevents the government of the day from directing content and most social minded individuals in media tend to attach themselves to the ABC as the only truly independent media outlet. Our current conservative government would like to defund the organisation. My point being- "State funded media" is not to be equated with "state run media".

You guys are all right. Truth telling will eventually work, as our society has been making great progress. But to Anna's point, that's not good enough. People are being killed and tortured today by right wing terrorists.

I'm a citizen of Hong Kong. Please continue to report on our political situation and do whatever you can to help the people of Hong Kong, even when you think it's against your principle. The Chinese government and the Hong Kong government is persecuting the people of Hong Kong, openly turning the territory into a lawless police state. They're calling us cockroaches and trying to incite and legitimize hatred against the majority of HK citizens who are seeking the democracy that was promised to us by both British and the Chinese governments.

What a bunch of crap, everywhere you turn you see the media giving support for the Hong Kong protestors! Pretty much articles upon articles have been written in favour of the protestors, the idea they are being silenced is nonsense!

I think Cenk is right, as uncomfortable as it is – as long as we live in glass houses we should not be throwing stones. That said it is hardly against free speech to put disclaimers all around these accounts so people are aware of what exactly it is. And in any case it seems like a massive overreaction. The coverage and people's perceptions are overwhelmingly positive. Even RT is fairly neutral in its coverage.

Kinda hilarious freeDUMB loving pig fuckers are whining about the actions of the Chinese actions in what is part of China! The reason why China doesn't have an Alt-Reich or much of a terrorist problem is because the government is sane.

The masses are arses, and the common man/individual is to be crushed without mercy, not extolled. FreeDUMB = weakness. It's why the west is losing while China continues to gain.

Now they act?!?!?! You tube has been demonetising and taking down videos from sites like China Uncensored since the beginning of the protests! YouTube has been pandering to the Chinese government by blocking these news sites and it takes them this long to finally do something! 😒

John Pilger wrote a great article on this. That guy is right, the NED is bankrolling propaganda for the protesters, to the point that they are marching around with the US and UK flags. One of the new's tycoons even had a meeting with John Bolton, and anything that Bolton is involved with stinks.

The difference with state news from other countries is that they don't ban YouTube in their countries, if China does not allow YouTube to be viewed their country then they should not be allowed to be on it either

Facebook, twitter, and youtube cant stop white supremacists and refuse to try but somehow within a week of the airport occupation the hong kong protesters have won over these platforms. I wonder how? Maybe it is because the protesta are funded by the us government which has been proven.

Maybe in the future, people could establish a truthful information accountability & fact checking committee in the form of a publicly elected panel of journalists that serve to inform the ones who voted for them about the world and hold anyone and everyone accountable for any attempts at misinformation that are made. Journalism for the people, by the people, elected by the people to serve and represent the people. perhaps this could extend beyond just America and have its existence be represented by all internet using democratic nations, each electing their own panels of journalists to serve as part of the committee. This all could be publicly funded internationally by the people of each participating nation. Maybe this is a lofty idea with glaring flaws but it's better than nothing. At the very least, it is a starting point of an idea for a solution

The BBC is NOT the same as Al Jazeera/RT and CCTV – it's a public broadcasting system, funded through tv licences. Its content is not controlled directly by the government whereas the other examples are purely mouthpieces of their respective regimes.

Speaking of propaganda, the US is the godfather and everyone knows it. As usual, the Western always have double standard in everything. In other words "I can do it, and you may not". The problem is most people in the west have been brainwashed with their government's propaganda towards China, and see China as "evil" as intended & planned by their own governements.

Take a look at these 3 channels to see Chinese State Media in English for yourself, rather than through the filter of another layer of Propaganda:CCTV, CGTN, New China TV … by subscribing to all 3, it becomes obvious which are "straight from Beijing" press releases, because the same story will air on all 3 within 5 minutes apart.For a non Chinese-government English perspective, that is at times even critical of China's CCP government, for example by applauding the legalization of Same Sex Marriages in Taiwan recently, as the "First Asian Country" to do so, watch Hong Kong & Shenzhen Based South China TV .

Despite what you've said a couple of times throughout this video the B.B.C. is NOT state television so why do you keep pushing the myth that it is, TYT? Historically speaking the B.B.C. has always been politically neutral but tends to be more liberal in its views socially – this is especially true when it comes to its different radio stations and their productions because they have a large younger listening audience so that's to be expected, isn't it? I know that Ben Shapiro will obviously disagree with me on this – especially after seeing his historical and hilarious stomping by Andrew Neil some months ago when he tried to imply that Mr Neil was a lefty! That was classic B.B.C. television comedy as far as I'm concerned, i.e. watching a right-wing 'snowflake' melt after being 'burnt' by another right-winger!

Having said that the U.K. Government is not allowed to censor or restrict anything that the B.B.C. chooses to air either on television or on the radio and if there are any objections to anything that they air from the general public then it's Ofcom's job here in the U.K. to decide on such issues. For you Americans, Ofcom in the U.K. is formally known as the Office of Communications and is a completely independent and neutral apolitical organisation but it "….has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material…." this doesn't involve censorship of any of the media companies' outputs – including the B.B.C. – but they are empowered by our Government to do anything they feel necessary against any media outlet that fails to protect the public from any of the harmful or offensive content mentioned above. :-/

Yeah I hear ya too, I'm here in the UK – a big Corbyn/ Bernie Sanders fan and green voter. What I'm noticing is that people are called terrorists when they are not following or are against the aims of the country. I think it's called foreign policy but can also be called the American or British aims for the government and when we actually look at them I think they're pretty grim!

I am a progressive… Cenk you have got to be living in a fantasy bubble if you think people under 30 are 80% progressive. You have never been to the South? To Utah/Idaho? Texas/Arizona? Even the majority of my friends in NYC and New Jersey lean to the libertarian side, they make fun of trump and Bernie equally.

It's not about blocking a different perspective, as you all well know. It's about blocking something that is inherently untrue and damaging. Everything Trump says should be blocked. CCTV should be blocked. North Korean state news is so absurd no one takes it seriously outside the country, but it should also be blocked. There should be nothing controversial about any of that. Ana is right to go full steam ahead.

You'd want to ban them all until you are the one being banned. It's a devil's trap and a slippery slope. Do you really think the protesters, CNN, BBC, etc are all telling the truth about Hong Kong? the truth is always somewhere in between, by silencing the other side, you'd only end up subjecting yourself to irrationality and propaganda. There are always at least two sides to a story. Think if you only let Fox tell every story, what would the world be like… China does not get to tell theirs enough. Everything you know about them is through an American prism, told by politically motivated organizations. What do the majority and rational hong kong people really think? if you followed the events closely, you'd definitely know their voice has been effectively silenced by the protesters and Western media. It's arab spring 2.0, though it likely won't work in Hong Kong, despite the current gridlock.

I think the core problem goes to a lack of education. While you may not be able to fix stupid, you can do something about general ignorance. So I think it would help if more people were just better informed through school, but also given a more up-to-date education that included media usage and critique, so anyone would understand the possibilities and dangers of the internet. This shouldn't be an option, but a must in any modern day curriculum already before high school.

Ana, u are one of the strongest fighters out there for people with out a voice. When you sound defeatists, it effects so many. But I understand your frustration and I agree with your point but plz continue blessing us with your ability to empower people with your bold and courageous spirit. We love it.

It is time for the USA and the free western world to attack the EVIL RED COMMIE DRAGON with military force. It is vital for the salvation of the world that China is wiped off the face of this Earth. The CCP is the most evil government on the planet. It is the government of Satan and Hell on Earth.

It's a prelude to violence. China doesn't want to 'sell' the west on this. It just wants to muddy the water create confusing chatter then instigate a crisis … then act. They don't care what you think. This is ditto for the right and Trump's ANTIFA lies … he's prepping for action.

That's funny, I came across that CGTV recently & all the comments were full of hate for the Hong Kong protestors with videos trying to portray them negatively. I thought it was so surreal, now I'm not surprised at all to find out it's a propaganda channel.